The Duchess of Cambridge can expect to pay around £12,000 for her stay in the
Lindo Wing, which will buy her complete peace of mind, though not five-star
luxury.

The birthing suites in the private maternity wing of St Mary’s, an NHS hospital, are relatively Spartan, but they provide one-to-one care and instant access to some of the country’s top consultants.

Opened in 1937 and extensively refurbished last year, the Lindo was the birthplace of Princes William and Harry and other royal babies including Zara Phillips.

Anna Maxted, who had all three of her children at the Lindo, said she had initially been “disappointed that it wasn’t more luxurious” when she arrived to have her first baby, but quickly came to appreciate where her money went when she developed complications.

She said her obstetrician “appeared like a genie” and within half an hour she had given birth by emergency caesarean section, in one of the wing’s dedicated operating theatres, to a son who had the umbilical cord wrapped twice around his neck. After her baby Oscar was born, he was taken to the secure nursery so she could get some sleep, and for the rest of her stay, “if I pressed a buzzer, staff responded instantly”.

She said: “Medical excellence, not fancy carpet, is what you pay for, and despite the eye-watering cost, it was the wisest decision we ever made.

“I was treated as every woman deserves at this emotional and exhilarating time: like a princess. But rather more importantly, I believe they saved my son’s life.”

All rooms at the Lindo are en-suite, with satellite television, a radio, a safe, phone, internet access, air conditioning and a fridge. Meals are prepared in a dedicated kitchen, offering a higher standard of cuisine than normal NHS hospital food, and there is a wine list offering champagne to toast the baby’s arrival.

Police stand guard at the doors of The Lindo Wing as The Duchess Of Cambridge goes into labour at St Mary's Hospital Photo: GETTY

Unlike its NHS counterpart, the Lindo employs a “hotel services team” to cater for parents’ needs, but the rooms are unmistakeably hospital rooms, with linoleum floors, wipe-clean surfaces and sparse furniture.

All rooms come with a fully-reclining chair so that expectant fathers can take a nap, though the Duke and Duchess are understood to have opted for a top-of-the-range suite, with a living room and guest bed for the Duke to rest if the Duchess is in labour for a long time.

The minimum price for a 24-hour stay is £4,965, rising to £6,420 if a caesarean section is needed, though a suite starts at £6,265 and costs an extra £2,200 for each extra night.

Fees for obstetricians, anaesthetists and blood transfusions are extra, taking the final bill well into five figures.

Another mother who had two children at the Lindo said: “My prevailing memory is of how wonderful the midwives were, and that’s all that really matters. They were angels, some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

“The care was faultless, I had complete peace of mind, and that’s what it is all about, health and welfare, it’s not about glossy luxury.”

The Lindo Wing, which was opened by the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is named after Frank Charles Lindo, a businessman and board member of St Mary’s Hospital, who donated £111,500 to the hospital before his death in 1938.

It originally had 66 beds and charged seven guineas per week plus professional fees, and was intended for “patients of moderate means”. The rest of St Mary’s was a charitable institution caring for “the deserving poor”.

When the NHS was set up in 1948, the Lindo remained private, and Sir George Pinker, royal gynaecologist from 1973 to 1990, was the man who moved royal births from palaces to the Lindo, delivering nine royal babies there.